It was O’Malley in his role as chairman of the Democratic Governors’ Association who took the time to build relationships with party chairs around the country, including Wisniewski, who served as chair of the Democratic Party in New Jersey during the first term of Gov. Chris Christie. Wisniewski and O’Malley developed close political ties and anyone paying close attention to politics at the time could see the potential for O’Malley to land a New Jersey leader like Wisniewski.

Given the history, Wiz, in fact, was O’Malley’s best shot for traction here among elected officials.

The fact now that the assemblyman, a lawmaker with two decades in the legislature behind him and numerous longstanding ties to the party establishment, would endorse a grassroots Socialist animal like Sanders and leave fellow party man O’Malley untouched and in the dust shows just how far into the abyss O’Malley has plummeted.

Was there even a phone call here or did Wiz just hit the eject button on his old party pal?

In politics, one goes past the point of warranting a call – into the ether of utter irrelevance – and we suspect that was the case here.

We’re not saying Wisniewski’s decision alone should compel O’Malley to get out of the race. But it’s symptomatic of a campaign that never got beyond the lame three-chord progressions he strummed around the country like a single-digit limping Johnny Appleseed.

Going. Nowhere. Fast.

Whatever O’Malley’s angling for at this point (Clinton would be daft to put him on the ticket; the guy couldn’t fight for himself, what is he going to do when Clinton gets in a dogfight, break out the guitar and sing “Hallelujah I’m a Bum?”), it’s not worth the agony of the effort it takes to watch his delusional death spiral.

O’Malley, you’ve been hearing nothing but negativity since you undertook your 2016 presidential bid. But it’s even worse than the din of the Internet.

The failure of your campaign to take hold never had a more dramatic exclamation point than Wisniewski – he of public contracts and roads and bridges pragmatism as chair of the powerful Assembly Transportation Committee – bypassing a carefully cultivated relationship and affirming Sanders.

Let the Wiz story line sink in over the next 24 to 48 hours and then quietly cease and desist.